Silver-haired soap star David Canary began his career on the Broadway stage, debuting in Jose Quintero's 1962 production of "Great Day in the Morning", starring Colleen Dewhurst. The former college football player resumed his theatrical career after military service and soon found his way into TV and film, playing Dr. Russ Gehring on ABC's "Peyton Place" and acting in "Hombre" (his film debut) and "The St. Valentine's Day Massacre" (both 1967) before landing a regular role on NBC's "Bonanza" as Candy, the ranch hand who practically became a member of the Cartwright family. Although he appeared in three movies in 1975 (Cornel Wilde's "Shark's Treasure", Kirk Douglas' "Posse" and "Johnny Firecloud"), Canary's love for the theater brought him back to NYC where he reteamed with Quintero for the 1980 Broadway production of Tennessee Williams' "Clothes for a Summer Hotel", among other plays and musicals. No stranger to daytime TV, having portrayed Stephen Frame in NBC's "Another World" from 1981 to 1983, he joined the cast of "All My Children" (ABC) in 1983 as the powerful and mercurial Adam Chandler, and his responsibilities doubled when he assumed the role of Adam's shy, gentle twin, Stuart. For his daytime efforts, Canary has received four Emmy Awards as Lead Actor in a Drama Series out of 11 nominations.
Education
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University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, music
Milestones
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1962 Broadway debut in Jose Quintero's production of "Great Day in the Morning", with Colleen Dewhurst
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1965 Appeared as Dr. Russ Gehring on "Peyton Place" (ABC)
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1967 Made feature debut in Martin Ritt's "Hombre"
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1973 TV-movie debut, "Incident on a Dark Street" (NBC)
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1975 Acted in three features: Cornel Wilde's "Shark's Treasure", Kirk Douglas' "Posse" and "Johnny Firecloud"
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1978 Appeared in the CBS miniseries "The Dain Curse"
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1980 Returned to Broadway in Tennessee Williams' "Clothes for a Summer Hotel", opposite Geraldine Page and Kenneth Haigh as Zelad and F Scott Fitzgerald; production directed by Quintero
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1983 Played the powerful and mercurial Adam Chandler and his shy, mentally-impaired twin Stuart on the ABC daytime drama "All My Children"
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1989 Starred with Marian Seldes in independently produced comedy film, "In a Pig's Eye"
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1994 Acted in Matthew Huffman's award-winning student short, "Secret Santa", portraying an unconscious Santa Claus stumbled upon by a seven-year old
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1997 Made guest appearance on the AMC series "Remember WENN"
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After military service, restarted his career on the West Coast, starring in San Francisco production of "The Fantastics"
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Cast as Stephen Frame on the NBC daytime soap "Another World"
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Grew up in Massillon, Ohio
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Portrayed ranch hand Candy on the popular NBC Western "Bonanza"
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Rejoined "Bonanza" as Candy for final season
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Served in US Army; won the All Army Contest for Best Popular Singer